Putting users at the heart of your HR applications

Putting users at the heart of your HR applications

Today, smartphones and tablet devices are everywhere, you’re probably even using one now. They have become part of our everyday life, in both a personal and professional sense. With the user at the centre of what we do at Applaud, all our applications are available to use on mobile. But on whose mobile? How do companies maintain security whilst opening up availability and access to their internal applications on personal devices? Working across multiple global clients, we’ve come across many different solutions to this problem.

Managing devices at a corporate level initially started out with the introduction of MDM – Mobile Device Management which organisations used to secure the device and access to corporate email in case of theft. MDM address the issues of users simply connecting their own devices to the corporate environment and entering their active directory credentials.

Enterprise Mobility Management

In recent years MDM has evolved into what the industry calls EMM – Enterprise Mobility Management, where managing the device is just the start. Now you can:

Build and deploy your own in-house applications

Have your own corporate app store for company approved and recommended applications

Secure content repositories

Turn a mobile phone or tablet into a fully functional hand-sized computer

With so many devices and platforms out there, users often have a preference on the device and operating system they use. Some love the Apple ecosystem and its easy to use and secure interface, while others prefer Android devices and the varied range of manufacturers and price options.

Introducing BYOD – Bring Your Own Device

In an effort to address user concerns and preferences around devices, some organisations started to offer Choose Your Own Device programs. These programs allowed employees a choice of a few corporately-approved devices, secured by an MDM/EMM application such as Mobile Iron, AirWatch, MaaS360, or Zen Mobile.

Recently, companies have started to introduce BYOD – Bring Your Own Device – programs. An attractive option, this allows employees to use the device they like, and in return they agree to have corporate email, applications, and content in a secure container managed by an MDM product. This means that sensitive company data can be kept secure on a device.

The state of the market

Having worked for MDM/EMM vendors before I joined Applaud, I can confidently say that the general consensus was that the marketplace was relatively mature, and that nearly all companies already had an MDM/EMM solution in place. This belief drove the perception that sales were won based on the latest piece of functionality or technological advantage.

However, the reality is slightly different and I find myself regularly having conversations with large organisations who do not have either solution in place. As a result of this they’re finding themselves behind their competition – both from an IT security perspective, and also from the ability to retain employees who are wanting to use their own devices for company work (even if they are not authorised to do so).

Putting the end-user first

Having an MDM/EMM solution in place is vital for companies nowadays, however even when they have one in place companies still seem to fall down when it comes to the end user experience. It is human nature for users to take the path of least resistance, so if an employee does not like the device or application they have been given, they either will not use it or look for alternatives.

The end result of bad user experience will be expensive devices lying abandoned in a drawer along with employees bypassing HR systems and logging holiday and sickness through email. By implementing a BYOD program and installing a MDM/EMM solution, you open your organisation up to the opportunities presented by Oracle mobile applications such as Applaud.

The most successful companies nowadays are those whose IT department put end user needs at its core. They do this by ensuring that their employees have the right devices, with the right applications and tools for them to be successful. This approach of putting the end user first is what drives us at Applaud, which is why we ensure that our applications are simple to use yet integrate with all the major MDM/EMM providers in the marketplace.

If you would like to know how to make the most of your HR applications through the use of MDM and EMM, contact us today to discuss your situation.

Richard Ball, Global Sales and Marketing Manager

Richard has over 15 years of software and services business experience. He has managed sales, sales teams, professional services, marketing, channel programs & partners across EMEA in the design, delivery & execution of adoption strategies for Security, Mobility, and Content Management applications.